System and method for simulating a land mobile radio system

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a system and method for simulating a land mobile radio system having a plurality of radio sites. The simulation system may comprise an IP network providing an IP-based interface between components within the system such as, for example, a first server designed to simulate one or more radio sites, a second server designed to simulate one or more subscriber units, and a controller interface for providing commands for controlling the simulated subscriber units. Each site in the first server may include one or more site applications each associated with an IP address, and each subscriber unit in the second server is associated with a plurality of IP addresses for communicating with the site applications over the IP network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/278,641, entitled “System and Method for Simulating a Land MobileRadio System,” filed Oct. 21, 2011, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/405,618, entitled “System andMethod for Simulating a Land Mobile Radio System,” filed Oct. 21, 2010,all of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to Land Mobile Radio (LMR)systems and, more specifically, to a system and method for simulating anLMR system.

BACKGROUND

Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems are deployed by organizations requiringinstant communication between geographically dispersed and mobilepersonnel. Typical users of LMR systems include police departments, firedepartments, medical personnel, security personnel, EMS, and themilitary.

Current LMR systems are typically tested in a controlled testingenvironment before being deployed in the LMR system's intendedgeographical setting. Generally, the controlled testing environmentrequires the building and testing of equipment that is intended to beused in the field for the LMR system that is being tested. Therefore,for the testing of a typical LMR system, the controlled testingenvironment includes, at least, equipment for each land mobile radiosite (otherwise referred to herein as a “site” or “radio site”) in thesystem, a network connecting all the sites, and subscriber units, orradios, to be tested on each site. The equipment for each site in thesystem typically includes a control channel, one or more trafficchannels, a site controller, and a digital signal processing (DSP)interface. Current testing practices require the equipment for an LMRsystem to be built and tested. Therefore, as larger LMR systems aretested, more sites are required, and the testing becomes increasinglyexpensive due to the time and budget requirements involved in providingand testing additional equipment for the system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides a system and method for simulating aland mobile radio system having a plurality of radio sites. In oneembodiment, the simulation system comprises an internet protocol (IP)network providing an IP-based interface between a first server designedto simulate radio sites, a second server designed to simulate one ormore subscriber units, and a controller interface for providing commandsfor controlling the simulated subscriber units. Each site simulated bythe first server includes one or more site applications each associatedwith an IP address, and each subscriber unit simulated by the secondserver is associated with a plurality of IP addresses for communicatingwith the site applications over the IP network.

In another embodiment, the simulation system comprises an IP networkproviding an IP-based interface between one or more non-simulated landmobile radio sites, a first server designed to simulate additional radiosites, a second server designed to simulate subscriber units, and acontroller interface for providing commands for controlling thesimulated subscriber units. Each simulated radio site of the firstserver includes one or more site applications each associated with an IPaddress, and each simulated subscriber unit of the second server isassociated with a plurality of IP addresses. In this embodiment, thenon-simulated land mobile radio sites communicate with non-simulatedsubscriber units using radio frequency (RF) communication, whereas thesimulated subscriber units communicate with the simulated siteapplications over the IP network.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a system forsimulating a land mobile radio system, wherein the simulation systemcomprises an IP network providing an IP-based interface between one ormore primary servers each designed to simulate a radio site, a secondaryserver designed to simulate subscriber units, and a controller interfacefor providing commands for controlling the simulated subscriber units.Each simulated radio site of each of the primary servers includes one ormore simulated site applications each associated with an IP address, andeach subscriber unit of the secondary server is associated with aplurality of IP addresses for communicating with the simulated siteapplications over the IP network. This embodiment may also include oneor more non-simulated land mobile radio sites connected to the IPnetwork, wherein the non-simulated land mobile radio sites communicatewith non-simulated subscriber units using RF communication.

The present disclosure also provides a method for simulating the landmobile radio system by simulating radio sites connected over an IPnetwork, associating an IP address with each of one or more siteapplications in communication with each radio site, associatingsubscriber units with at least one site application, and simulating thesubscriber units communicating with the site applications over the IPnetwork.

The present disclosure also provides a method for testing a land mobileradio system by simulating radio sites connected over an IP network,associating one or more site applications located within each radio sitewith an IP address, associating subscriber units with at least one siteapplication, simulating the subscriber units communicating with the siteapplications over the IP network, and monitoring data packetscommunicated between the simulated subscriber units and the siteapplications. The disclosed method may be provided, for example, to testthe software used to operate the land mobile radio system and/or to testthe IP network capacity of the system.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of certain embodimentsof the present disclosure will become further apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments, read in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawingsare merely illustrative of the disclosure, rather than limiting thescope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and equivalentsthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingfigures, in which like reference numbers indicate similar parts, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example embodiment of an LMR systemtesting environment;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example embodiment of the componentscomprising one of the sites shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a system forsimulating an LMR system;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of data associated with a listing ofsubscriber units simulated by the subscriber unit server shown in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example embodiment of a system forsimulating an LMR system;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example of another embodiment of asystem for simulating an LMR system; and

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an example of yet another embodiment of asystem for simulating an LMR system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Prior to being deployed in the field, LMR systems are generally builtand tested in a controlled testing environment such as, for example, theexample testing environment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG.1, the LMR system built in the example testing environment 100 maycomprise one or more radio sites 110, network management systems 115,and dispatch consoles 120 communicating through an IP network 125 usinga series of switches and routers 130, wherein each radio site 110communicates with subscriber units 135 via RF communication 140. Itshould be understood that a subscriber unit 135 may be physicallylocated within communication range, geographical boundaries, orotherwise associated with one or more respective sites 110. In general,the testing environment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided to testthe operation and capacity of the LMR system before the system isdeployed for use in the field.

FIG. 2 provides a more detailed illustration of an example embodiment ofone of the sites 110 shown in FIG. 1, wherein each site 110 may includea logic layer 210, an application layer 220, and a DSP interface layer230. The logic layer 210 comprises the software, or code, required tooperate the site 110, and the application layer 220 provides theapplications configured to execute the software to set-up and conductcalls as well as provide other general operational functionality of thesite. The DSP interface layer 230 provides an RF-based interfaceoperable to transceive data packets as RF signals between a site 110 andsubscriber units 135. As illustrated in the example embodiment shown inFIG. 2, the application layer 220 comprises site applications such as,for example, a control channel 222, a site controller 224, and one ormore traffic channels 226. Although the components of a site 110 areshown separately as layers in FIG. 2, it should be understood that theyare not required to be segregated and, therefore, may be integrated asdesired. For example, in some embodiments, the logic layer 210 may beimplemented as software operating on one or more of the applications(222, 224, and 226) provided in the application layer 220.

As previously stated, the sites 110 and subscriber units 135 communicatevia an RF-based interface provided by the DSP interface 230. Therefore,in order to test the capacity of an LMR system using the example testingenvironment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, additional sites 110 andsubscriber units 135 are added to the system, and diagnostic testing isperformed to measure the effects of the additional sites 110 andsubscriber units 135. However, the additional sites 110 and subscriberunits 135 are expensive and, as a result, increase operating costs oftesting such LMR systems. As such, the present disclosure provides asystem and method for simulating an LMR system, wherein the simulatedLMR system may be implemented in an existing LMR system, or in acontrolled testing environment in lieu of certain components comprisingthe LMR system to potentially reduce the amount of equipment needed fortesting the LMR system. The simulated LMR system may be implemented toprovide efficient, dynamic testing at potentially reduced costs whencompared to current testing practices.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure,wherein a system 300 (otherwise referred to as “simulation system 300”)for simulating an LMR system uses an IP-based interface (e.g., betweensubscriber units and sites) instead of an RF-based interface. Asillustrated by the simulation system 300 shown in FIG. 3, an IP-basedinterface is provided by an IP network 305 connecting one or morenetwork management systems (NMS) 310, dispatch consoles 315, a siteserver 320, a subscriber unit server 325, and a controller 330 through aseries of switches and routers 335. In essence, referring briefly toFIG. 1, the RF-based interface 140 typically provided to facilitatecommunication between subscriber units 135 and sites 110 in atraditional LMR system (such as a trunking LMR system) is replaced bythe IP-based interface provided by the IP network 305 as shown in FIG.3. As such, components in the present disclosure that may typically beidentified by a radio frequency or physical location in traditional,non-simulated LMR systems are now identified by an IP address in thesystem 300 provided by the present disclosure. Although the switches androuters 335 are shown separately in the accompanying figures, it shouldbe understood that the switches and routers 335 may comprise part of theIP network 305 without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure as defined by the claims below.

In general, the NMS 310 may be provided to configure the LMR system thatis to be simulated in the system 300. It should be noted that althoughthe NMS 310 may provide data that is used when configuring thesimulation system 300, configuring the LMR system may be different fromconfiguring the simulation system 300, which may generally be performedby the controller 330, as described in greater detail below. The NMS 310may, in one embodiment, provide configuration data for subscriber units(simulated and/or non-simulated) operating on the LMR system, as well asstorage of general information used by the LMR system. Suchconfiguration data may include, for example, subscriber unitregistration data, listings of subscriber units registered with the LMRsystem, user group data, talk group data, mobility management data, andany other data that may be associated with a network management systemfor an LMR system.

The dispatch consoles 315 shown in FIG. 3 are generally operable tocommunicate with land mobile radio sites and other dispatch consoles 315to direct communication between each of the sites. In certainembodiments, the dispatch consoles 315 may communicate with one or morephysical LMR sites (not shown) and/or one or more simulated LMR sites340 explained in greater detail below.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the siteserver 320 is operable to simulate one or more simulated land mobileradio sites 340, wherein each simulated site 340 comprises one or moresite applications 345 each of which may be associated with an IPaddress. The site applications 345 are provided to simulatefunctionality that is typically provided by traditional, non-simulatedland mobile radio sites. Examples of the simulated functionalityprovided by the site applications 345 may include call setup, callrouting, mobility management, channel allocation, subscriber unitvalidation, registration, talkgroup affiliation, multicast broadcastingof voice data, etc. However, instead of using RF communication, theembodiment of the simulation system 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 providessimulated functionality over the IP network 305 using IP addresses asexplained in greater detail below. Additionally, because the siteapplications 345 are simulated, they may be designed to provideadditional functionality that is not typically provided by non-simulatedland mobile radio sites. Such additional functionality may include, forexample, generating voice data packets and providing feedback regardingperformance and diagnostics of the system 300.

When reference is made to the site applications illustrated in FIG. 3,reference number “345” is used when referring generally to allapplications located within a site 340. However, in some embodiments,each site 340 may be comprised of one or more site applications 345, asdiscussed above and illustrated in FIG. 3. Therefore, when reference ismade to a specific site application illustrated in FIG. 3, referencenumber “345A” is used to refer to a control channel application,reference number “345B” is used to refer to a site controllerapplication, and reference number “345C” is used to refer to a trafficchannel application. Although FIG. 3 only illustrates control channel,site controller, and traffic channel applications (345A, 345B, and 345C,respectively), it should be understood that other applications may beincluded in each simulated site 340. The applications 345 areillustrated separately in FIG. 3 in order to identify the functionalityperformed by the applications 345 comprising each simulated site 340;however, in some embodiments, functionality provided by multipleapplications 345 may be combined into a single application 345.

The subscriber unit server 325 simulates subscriber units 350 forcommunicating over the IP network 305 with the site applications 345located in a simulated site 340 on the site server 320. In general, anynumber of subscriber units 350 may be generated by the subscriber unitserver 325, wherein each subscriber unit 350 corresponds to one or moreIP addresses to allow for communication over the IP network 305. Becausethe IP network 305 provides an IP-based interface between the componentsof the system 300, communication between components such as, forexample, simulated subscriber units 350 and site applications 345, maybe provided by transmitting and receiving data to and from the IPaddresses associated with the communicating components.

FIG. 4 is provided in combination with FIG. 3 and the text below todescribe an example of communication between a first simulatedsubscriber unit 350 and one or more site applications 345 in accordancewith the disclosure provided herein. Accordingly, FIG. 4 illustratesmultiple example simulated subscriber units 350 each associated with anIP address within the subscriber unit server 325, wherein each simulatedsubscriber unit 350 is represented by a simulated subscriber unit ID410. Each simulated subscriber unit 350 also includes (i) a site ID 420indicating the simulated site 340 for which the example simulatedsubscriber unit 350 is registered, and (ii) a talkgroup ID 430indicating the talkgroup to which the specific simulated subscriber unit350 is affiliated.

In one example illustrating communication between components of thesystem 300, a first simulated subscriber unit 350 initiates a groupcall, and the subscriber unit server 325 simulates a push-to-talk (PTT)request originating from the first simulated subscriber unit 350initiating the call. The PTT request is sent over the IP network 305 tothe site server 320 where it is received at the control channelapplication 345A of the simulated site 340 for which the first simulatedsubscriber unit 350 is registered. The control channel 345A thenperforms typical call setup functions performed by traditional,non-simulated LMR sites.

Examples of call setup functions performed by traditional, non-simulatedLMR sites may include those provided in U.S. patent application Ser.Nos. 13/174,507 and 13/210,211, entitled “System and Method forProviding Mobility Management and Out-of-Coverage Indication in aConventional Land Mobile Radio System,” and “Hybrid Land Mobile RadioSystem Incorporating Mobility Management and Out-of-CoverageIndication,” respectively, both hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes, wherein, as mentioned above, components identified by an RF orphysical location in traditional, non-simulated LMR systems areidentified by an IP address in the system 300 provided by the presentdisclosure. For example, in response to the PTT request, the controlchannel application 345A may request validation of the first simulatedsubscriber unit 350 from the site controller application 345B as well asallocation of a traffic channel 345C to conduct the call.

Additionally, the control channel 345A may receive information that mayidentify the IP addresses of the site controller applications 345B ofthe simulated sites 340 at which other simulated subscriber units 350affiliated with the talkgroup of the call are registered. The controlchannel 345A may then transmit information identifying the IP addressesof the site controllers 345B as well as the IP address of the trafficchannel 345C allocated by the site controller 345B over the IP network305 to the first simulated subscriber unit 350 initiating the call.

In accordance with the current example, when the first simulatedsubscriber unit 350 receives, from the control channel 345A, informationidentifying the IP address of the traffic channel 345C, the subscriberunit server 325 transmits call data (e.g., voice packets, or voice data)over the IP network 305 to the traffic channel 345C allocated by thesite controller 345B. The traffic channel 345C allocated to conduct thecall from the first subscriber unit 350 then transmits the call data tothe site controllers 345B of the sites 340 with which the othersimulated subscriber units 350 affiliated with the talkgroup of the callare registered. Finally, the simulated site 340 transmits the call dataover the IP network 305 to the simulated subscriber units 350 receivingthe call, where it is received at each respective simulated subscriberunit 350 registered with the talkgroup of the call. It should beunderstood that, in some embodiments, the subscriber unit server 325 maydirectly transmit call data over the IP network 305 to the sitecontrollers 345B of the sites 340 at which other simulated subscriberunits 350 affiliated with the talkgroup of the call are registered.

The above example is provided to illustrate communication betweencomponents of the system 300. Although the above example illustratescommunication using call data, it should be appreciated that any type ofdata may be communicated using the simulation system 300 including, forexample, mobility data, registration data, location data, globalpositioning system (GPS) information, or any other data transmitted by aradio unit. It should be understood that the tasks performed by theapplications 345 may be simulated by the site server 320. Similarly,tasks performed by subscriber units 350 may be simulated by thesubscriber unit server 325. In accordance with the present disclosure,it should be understood that a component in the system 300 may simulatea task, feature, system, application, etc. . . . by generating and/orrunning code designed to execute the simulated task, feature, system,application, etc. Additionally, as used in the present disclosure, itshould be understood that a traditional, non-simulated LMR systemincludes not only trunking LMR systems, but also hybrid LMR systems.

Components in the present disclosure may provide functionality similarto that provided by their counterparts located in a traditional,non-simulated LMR system, except that the components in the presentdisclosure that are typically identified by an RF or physical locationin traditional, non-simulated LMR systems are now identified by an IPaddress in the system provided by the present disclosure. For example, acontrol channel application may be operable to communicate one or morecontrol channel messages in accordance with Telecommunications IndustryAssociation standards such as, for example, TIA-102.AABC. Examples ofsuch control channel messages may include: call set-up, registration andtalkgroup affiliation, RFSS status, network status, radio control,adjacent site information and registration, affiliation, andderegulation responses.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the system 300 may also include a controller330 operable to provide an interface between components of thesimulation system 300, thereby acting as a platform for allowing userinteraction with the simulation system 300 such that the user cancontrol and/or monitor features and operation of the simulation system300. For example, in some embodiments, the controller 330 may allow theuser to, among other things, a) determine the number of subscriber units350 to be simulated by the subscriber unit server 325, b) enter and/oredit a subscriber unit's site affiliation, talkgroup, location, or otherdata associated with each simulated subscriber unit 350, c) run scriptsto perform an operation within the LMR system (e.g., initiate a PTT,create an emergency alarm, initiate an emergency call, etc.), d) provideother interaction to setup, operate, and/or monitor the system 300 tosimulate a LMR system, and e) generate voice data for transmittingacross the IP network 305, wherein said voice data may be canned voicedata provided to the controller 330 by the user, or artificial voicedata generated by the site server 320 or subscriber unit server 325. Insome embodiments, the controller 330 may also allow a user to test anddebug an LMR system having simulated sites and/or traditional,non-simulated land mobile radio sites.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example embodiment of the present disclosure,similar to the system 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 and described above,except that the simulation system 500 in FIG. 5 combines the abovesystem 300 with one or more non-simulated LMR sites 510 connected to theother components in the system 500 through the IP network 305. Thenon-simulated sites 510 communicate with non-simulated subscriber units515 over an RF interface 520. In some embodiments, the controller 330may be adapted to provide a diagnostic and testing interface for thesystem 500 illustrated in FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, the system 500 may be used to test the capacity ofa pre-existing LMR system implementing non-simulated LMR sites 510 byadapting the pre-existing LMR system to incorporate the system 500illustrated in FIG. 5, and then simulating additional communication overthe existing LMR system to determine the pre-existing LMR system'scapacity and limitations. For example, in one embodiment, a site server320 may be in communication with an existing LMR site 510 to rundiagnostics and test the existing LMR site 510 or the LMR system towhich the LMR site 510 is associated. In this embodiment, the system 500of FIG. 5 may be implemented to determine the capacity and/orlimitations of an existing LMR site 510 by simulating communication overthe existing LMR site 510 and/or the LMR system of the site 510.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example embodiment of the present disclosure,similar to the system 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 and described above,except that the simulation system 600 in FIG. 6 replaces the single siteserver 320 in FIG. 3 with one or more site servers 610 each operable tosimulate one or more sites 615, wherein each site 615 comprises one ormore site applications 620 associated with an IP address.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example embodiment of the present disclosure,similar to those illustrated in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6 and described above.The system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 incorporates the system 300 asdescribed in accordance with FIG. 3, wherein the system 700 alsoincorporates the one or more site servers 610 of FIG. 6, and the one ormore non-simulated LMR sites 510 of FIG. 5 connected through the IPnetwork 305. Accordingly, the one or more site servers 610 each simulateone or more sites 615, wherein each site 615 comprises one or more siteapplications 620 associated with an IP address. Additionally, thenon-simulated LMR site 510 communicates with non-simulated subscriberunits 515 over an RF interface 520. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the controller 330 may be adapted to provide a diagnosticand testing interface for the system 700, wherein the system 700 may beused to test the capacity of a pre-existing LMR system implementingnon-simulated LMR sites 510 by adapting the pre-existing LMR system toincorporate the system 700 illustrated in FIG. 7, and then simulatingadditional communication over the existing LMR system to determine theLMR system's capacity and limitations. In one embodiment, a site server610 may be connected to an existing LMR site to run diagnostics and testthe existing LMR site or LMR system. For example, the system 700 of FIG.7 may be implemented to determine an existing LMR site's capacity and/orlimitations by simulating communication over the existing LMR siteand/or LMR system. In the example embodiments described above, theexisting LMR site may be represented by the non-simulated LMR site 510illustrated in the system 700 of FIG. 7.

The figures and accompanying text are provided herein to disclose one ormore aspects or embodiments and/or to provide one or more examples ofone or more systems and methods for simulating an LMR system. Thesimulation systems may be implemented in a controlled testingenvironment, or even in an existing LMR system, to provide efficient,dynamic testing of an LMR system. The examples and example embodimentsprovided herein are not intended to limit the scope or spirit of thepresent disclosure as defined in the claims provided below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for simulating a land mobile radiosystem having a plurality of land mobile radio sites, the systemcomprising: a first server configured to simulate one or more landmobile radio sites, said one or more simulated land mobile radio siteseach comprising one or more simulated land mobile radio siteapplications, each simulated land mobile radio site applicationassociated with at least one unique IP address; an IP network configuredto provide an IP-based interface between said first server and a secondserver; said second server configured to simulate one or more subscriberunits for communicating with one or more of said simulated land mobileradio site applications through said IP network, each of said one ormore simulated subscriber units associated with a subscriber unit IPaddress and one or more of the unique simulated land mobile radio siteapplication IP addresses; and a user interface for controlling operationof at least one of said first server and said second server.
 2. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim1, wherein said second server is configured to communicate data betweenat least one simulated subscriber unit and at least one simulated landmobile radio site application using said IP-based interface.
 3. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim1, wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit is configured to beassociated with at least one simulated land mobile radio siteapplication over said IP network.
 4. The system for simulating a landmobile radio system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said one or moresimulated land mobile radio site applications comprise at least one of aland mobile radio site controller application, a control channelapplication, and a simulated traffic channel application.
 5. The systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 4,wherein said land mobile radio site controller application is configuredto simulate one or more tasks from the group consisting of call set-up,call routing, channel allocation, subscriber unit validation, sitecontroller redundancy control, talkgroup affiliation validation, groupcall validation, unit call validation, emergency call validation,emergency alarm management, group call resource arrangement, subscribermanagement, inhibiting subscriber units, dynamically regroupingsubscriber units, selector locking subscriber units, requestingsubscriber unit reregistration, and mobility management.
 6. The systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 4,wherein said control channel application is configured to communicate atleast one or more control channel messages.
 7. The system for simulatinga land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 4, wherein saidsimulated traffic channel application is configured to communicate voicedata with one or more of the simulated subscriber units.
 8. The systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 4,wherein said simulated traffic channel application is configured tosimulate communication between a simulated traffic channel and one ormore of the simulated subscriber units.
 9. The system for simulating aland mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said secondserver is configured to transfer voice data over said IP network fromone or more of said simulated subscriber units to one or more of saidsimulated land mobile radio site application IP addresses.
 10. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim9, wherein said voice data is generated by said second server.
 11. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim9, wherein said voice data is generated using the user interface. 12.The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said first server is further configured to generatevoice data.
 13. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system asset forth in claim 1, wherein said system is configured to simulatecommunicating between a simulated subscriber unit and a simulated landmobile radio site application by communicating data packets across saidIP network, wherein said data packets are communicated between an IPaddress associated with said simulated land mobile radio siteapplication and an IP address associated with said simulated subscriberunit.
 14. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 1, wherein the user interface is further configured tocontrol one or more of the simulated subscriber units.
 15. The systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1,wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit is associated with atleast one of the simulated land mobile radio sites.
 16. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe user interface is further configured to configure said system. 17.The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the user interface is further configured to providediagnostic testing of said system.
 18. The system for simulating a landmobile radio system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: one ormore non-simulated land mobile radio sites; and one or morenon-simulated radios configured to communicate with said one or morenon-simulated land mobile radio sites using a radio frequency interface;wherein said IP network is further configured to provide an IP-basedinterface between said first server, said second server, and said one ormore non-simulated land mobile radio sites.
 19. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 18, whereinthe user interface is further configured to control diagnostic testingof at least one of: said one or more non-simulated land mobile radiosites, and said one or more non-simulated radios.
 20. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 18, whereinthe user interface is further configured to configure at least one of:said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites, and said one ormore non-simulated radios.
 21. The system for simulating a land mobileradio system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: one or morenetwork management systems; and one or more dispatch consoles; whereinsaid IP network is further configured to provide an IP-based interfacebetween said first server, said second server, said one or more networkmanagement systems, and said one or more dispatch consoles.
 22. A systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system, the system comprising: one ormore primary servers each configured to simulate one or more land mobileradio sites each comprising one or more simulated land mobile radio siteapplications, each simulated land mobile radio site applicationassociated with at least one unique IP address; an IP network configuredto provide an IP-based interface between said one or more primaryservers and a secondary server; wherein said secondary server isconfigured to simulate one or more subscriber units for communicatingwith one or more of said simulated land mobile radio site applicationsover said IP network, each of said one or more simulated subscriberunits associated with a subscriber unit IP address and one or more ofthe simulated land mobile radio site application IP addresses; and auser interface configured for controlling operation of at least one ofsaid primary servers and secondary server.
 23. The system for simulatinga land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 22, wherein said userinterface is further configured to provide diagnostic testing of saidsystem.
 24. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 22, wherein said IP-based interface is configured toprovide communication between at least one simulated subscriber unit andat least one simulated land mobile radio site application.
 25. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim22, wherein said IP network is configured to associate at least onesimulated subscriber unit with at least one simulated land mobile radiosite application.
 26. The system for simulating a land mobile radiosystem as set forth in claim 22, wherein said one or more simulated landmobile radio site applications comprise at least one of a land mobileradio site controller application, a control channel application, and asimulated traffic channel application.
 27. The system for simulating aland mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26, wherein said landmobile radio site controller application is configured to simulate oneor more tasks from the group consisting of call set-up, call routing,channel allocation, subscriber unit validation, site controllerredundancy control, talkgroup affiliation validation, group callvalidation, unit call validation, emergency call validation, emergencyalarm management, group call resource arrangement, subscribermanagement, inhibiting subscriber units, dynamically regroupingsubscriber units, selector locking subscriber units, requestingsubscriber unit reregistration, and mobility management.
 28. The systemfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26,wherein said control channel application is configured to simulate atleast one or more control channel messages.
 29. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26, whereinsaid simulated traffic channel application is configured to simulatecommunication between a simulated traffic channel and one or more of thesimulated subscriber units.
 30. The system for simulating a land mobileradio system as set forth in claim 22, wherein said secondary server isconfigured to transfer voice data over said IP network from one or moreof said simulated subscriber units to one or more of said simulated landmobile radio site application IP addresses.
 31. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 22, whereinsaid IP-based interface is configured to simulate communicating betweena simulated subscriber unit and one of the one or more simulated landmobile radio site applications by communicating data packets over saidIP network, wherein said data packet are communicated between a uniqueIP address associated with said simulated land mobile radio siteapplication and a unique IP address associated with said simulatedsubscriber unit.
 32. The system for simulating a land mobile radiosystem as set forth in claim 22, wherein said user interface is furtherconfigured to control one or more simulated subscriber units.
 33. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim22, wherein said user interface is further configured to configure saidsystem.
 34. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 22, wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit isassociated with at least one of the simulated land mobile radio sites.35. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth inclaim 22, further comprising: one or more non-simulated land mobileradio sites; and one or more non-simulated subscriber units configuredto communicate with said one or more non-simulated land mobile radiosites using radio frequency; wherein said IP network is furtherconfigured to provide an IP-based interface between said one or morenon-simulated land mobile radio sites, said one or more primary servers,said secondary server, and said user interface.
 36. The system forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 35, whereinsaid user interface is further configured to control diagnostic testingof at least one of: said one or more non-simulated land mobile radiosites, and said one or more non-simulated subscriber units.
 37. Thesystem for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim35, wherein said user interface is further configured to configure atleast one of: said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites,and said one or more non-simulated subscriber units.
 38. A method forsimulating a land mobile radio system having a plurality of radio sites,the method comprising: simulating one or more land mobile radio siteseach comprising one or more simulated land mobile radio siteapplications, each simulated land mobile radio site applicationassociated with at least one unique IP address; simulating one or moresubscriber units for communicating with at least one of said simulatedland mobile radio site applications over an IP network; associating eachof said one or more simulated subscriber units with a subscriber unit IPaddress; associating at least one simulated subscriber unit with an IPaddress of at least one simulated land mobile radio site application;and controlling operation of said one or more simulated subscriberunits.
 39. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 38, wherein simulating said one or more subscriber unitscommunicating with at least one of said simulated land mobile radio siteapplications over said IP network comprises: communicating, over said IPnetwork, data packets between an IP address associated with at least oneof said simulated land mobile radio site applications and an IP addressassociated with at least one of said simulated subscriber units.
 40. Themethod for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim38, further comprising configuring said simulated land mobile radiosystem.
 41. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 38, further comprising performing diagnostic testing ofsaid simulated land mobile radio system.
 42. The method for simulating aland mobile radio system as set forth in claim 38, further comprisingcommunicating, over said IP network, data packets between said simulatedland mobile radio system and one or more non-simulated land mobile radiosites.
 43. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as setforth in claim 42, further comprising configuring at least one of saidnon-simulated land mobile radio sites.
 44. The method for simulating aland mobile radio system as set forth in claim 42, further comprisingperforming diagnostic testing of at least one of said one or morenon-simulated land mobile radio sites.
 45. The method for simulating aland mobile radio system as set forth in claim 38, wherein said one ormore simulated land mobile radio site applications comprise at least oneof a land mobile radio site controller application, a control channelapplication, and a simulated traffic channel application.
 46. The methodfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 45,wherein said land mobile radio site controller application is configuredto simulate one or more tasks from the group consisting of call set-up,call routing, channel allocation, subscriber unit validation, sitecontroller redundancy control, talkgroup affiliation validation, groupcall validation, unit call validation, emergency call validation,emergency alarm management, group call resource arrangement, subscribermanagement, inhibiting subscriber units, dynamically regroupingsubscriber units, selector locking subscriber units, requestingsubscriber unit reregistration, and mobility management.
 47. The methodfor simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 45,wherein said control channel application is configured to simulate atleast one or more control channel messages.
 48. The method forsimulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 45, whereinsaid simulated traffic channel application is configured to simulatecommunication between a simulated traffic channel and one or more of thesimulated subscriber units.